Category: Nothing Is Better Than Real Life

We are proud to share with you the award-winning photographs from our THIRD international competition celebrating the very best in documentary family photography!

The guest judges for the Nothing Is Better Than Real Life categorywere Dylan E. Richards, Erika Jensen-Mann and Tasneem Alsultan. Each of them evaluated every single submission we received and carefully selected thirty or less of their favourite photographs. Award winners were then chosen by Kirsten Lewis Bethmann, Jenna Shouldice and Ryan Christopher Jones, based on the guest judges selections, during our live broadcast of the final round.

The first 10 photos are ranked from 1st to 10th place. If Honorable Mentions were selected, they are given equal weight in no particular order.

(To see full-size photos, click or tap an image)

1st Place: Nothing Is Better Than Real Life by Kaleen Enke, United States.

2nd Place: Nothing Is Better Than Real Life by Jen Conway, United States.

3rd Place: Nothing Is Better Than Real Life by Taras Bychko, Ukraine.

4th Place: Nothing Is Better Than Real Life by Allison Redmon, Saudi Arabia.

5th Place: Nothing Is Better Than Real Life by Shawna Stanley, United States.

6th Place: Nothing Is Better Than Real Life by Heather Whitten, United States.

7th Place: Nothing Is Better Than Real Life by Sabine Doppelhofer, Austria.

8th Place: Nothing Is Better Than Real Life by Jenna Hobbs, Canada.

9th Place: Nothing Is Better Than Real Life by Andrea Wolfe, Canada.

10th Place: Nothing Is Better Than Real Life by Rowena Meadows, Australia.

Honorable Mention: Nothing Is Better Than Real Life by Angie Naumowicz, Australia.

Honorable Mention: Nothing Is Better Than Real Life by Jenna Hellberg, United States.

Honorable Mention: Nothing Is Better Than Real Life by Karen Osdieck, United States.

Honorable Mention: Nothing Is Better Than Real Life by Lavinia Nitu, Italy.

Honorable Mention: Nothing Is Better Than Real Life by Sybil Rondeau, France.

This award cycle was made possible with the generous support of the following sponsors:

Tristan is a documentary photographer based out of Victoria BC where he currently lives with his wife and daughter. Originally from Pennsylvania, he was raised on a biodynamic dairy farm until his family moved to western Canada when he was ten. Attending photography school years later after living overseas, Tristan met his now wife and talented photographer Jenna Shouldice. Together they run their documentary wedding and family photography company out of Victoria and Toronto, serving clients across North America. Tristan has gained international recognition for his photography work and he has spoken and taught about his documentary approach across Canada and the United States. In 2017 Tristan and Jenna co-founded the Documentary Family Awards with Kirsten Lewis Bethmann.